The present invention relates to ratchet wrenches, and more specifically, to a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement for wrench, which is easy to assemble and, which stops the ratchet wheel from vibration when operated to grasp/turn the workpiece.
Regular ratchet wrenches include two types, namely, the one-way ratchet wrenches and the reversible ratchet wrenches. A ratchet wrench of either type comprises a box, a ratchet wheel mounted in the box, a spring member, and a stop member supported on the spring member and adapted to engage the ratchet wheel and to control the direction of rotation of the ratchet wheel in the box. FIG. 1 shows a one-way ratchet wrench according to the prior art. As illustrated, the ratchet wrench uses an annular cover plate to hold the ratchet wheel in the box, and a C-shaped retainer ring to secure the cover plate to the box. This ratchet wheel mounting arrangement is still not satisfactory in function. When operating the ratchet wrench to turn the workpiece, the ratchet wheel tends to be vibrated.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement for wrench, which eliminates the aforesaid problem. It is one object of the present invention to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement for wrench, which is easy to assemble and to disassemble. It is another object of the present invention to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement for wrench, which stops the ratchet wheel from vibration when operated to grasp/turn the workpiece. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the ratchet wheel mounting arrangement comprises a wrench body with a box at one end, the box of the wrench body having a top inside annular locating groove and a bottom inside annular locating groove, a ratchet wheel mounted in the box, the ratchet wheel having an outward bottom flange engaged into the bottom inside annular locating groove of the box and a top outside locating groove, a stop block adapted to control the direction of rotation of the ratchet wheel, a cover plate put in the top inside annular locating groove of the box, the cover plate having an annular inside locating groove, and a C-shaped retainer ring fastened to the top outside locating groove of the ratchet wheel and the annular inside locating groove of the cover plate to secure them in place.